NASA to Launch Solar Observatory

NASA is gearing up to launch the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), a space telescope optimized for taking detailed observations of the sun to learn more about its complex weather patterns.

Space.com reports that the $808 million spacecraft will launch February 9th at 10:36 AM EST from Cape Canaveral, Fla. on top of an Atlas V rocket.

The goal is to learn how the sun’s magnetic field, which fluctuates in activity levels in an 11-year cycle, emits periodic flares of charged particles that interfere with technology on our own planet (pictured), the report said.

“Our sun affects our life more and more as we come to depend more and more on technology,” said Dean Pesnell, SDO project scientist at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., in a briefing to the press Thursday. (Image credit: NASA/STEREO)